5x5 Day Four: Trav's Five Favorite Miami Bass Albums

Long time readers will remember this post as a re-run. Not that I'm running out of ideas, but when I started this, I wasn't planning on almost working 60 hours this week, which is what I'm on target to do. Top that with doing taxes all night last night and a couple late nights earlier in the week and my ass is dragging. But this was a good post, so hey, if you haven't seen it before, pretend like you didn't read this and assume that it is new. -Trav


I'm no where near a bass "expert" by any stretch of the mind. I listened to it from '88 until about '91, then I got swept up in the new have of NYC material coming out during that time. None the less, I did have my favorite bass and bass related albums. It'd be easy to say any 2 Live Crew album (which were all good in those early years), but I seemed to gravitate to some of the more obscure things, which I have the habit of doing. So, without further rambling, I present WYDU's Top Five Favorite Bass Albums....

5 (TIE). MC Shy D - Commin' Correct in '88 http://rapidshare.com/files/172630816/MC_Shy_D_-_Comin__Correct_In_88.rar

I really can't remember who or what got me originally into MC Shy D. I want to say it was like a lot of cats in those days did it. Anytime I bought a new tape, I would pull out the liner notes and read the "Thanks To..." from whatever artist. This would usually list a bunch of other rap groups and artists. I can remember reading MC Shy D's name being mentioned in those quite often. Or it could have been for the fact he was signed to Luke Skyywalker Records for his first couple efforts and I picked up one of the tapes strictly based on that. Whatever the case, at one time, my next door neighbor neighbor and I had all of MC Shy D's albums. Shy D was out of Atlanta, which surprisingly had a few groups dropping material in the late 80's, such as Shy D and Success N Effect (another favorite Bass flavored album, at least their debut effort).

This particular album, my buddy bought and I ripped it off of him (another example of kids always pirating music). I remember I wore the tape out, but of course it was on one of those super cheap tape brands as well. While his first album, Got To Be Tough, and his third album, Don't Sweat Me, are both very good, it was Shy D's sophomore album, Commin' Correct in '88 that was my personal favorite. From the first track, "I Am Rough", with it's stripped down drum track with a nice funk guitar sample and 808 kick drum, it sounds like it might be a traditional 80's hip hop album. Lyrically, Shy D always reminded me of a southern Steady B, which is probably why I liked his material. "Just My Caddy" tackles the favorite car of most Miami Bass artists, the Cadillac. "I Don't Want To Treat You Wrong" jumped on the bandwagon of every rapper had to have a love song on his shit. This was Shy D's attempt, but what makes the track so important is that it's one of the first times I heard the Isley Brother's "In Between The Sheets" sample used. Biggie and numerous other cats made the sample famous over the years, but Shy D beat them to it. My two personal favorite songs from the album, "Shake It" and "I Don't Play" liberally use electric guitar riffs, ala Beasties and Run DMC, but I loved that shit. I guess it was the white boy in me. All together though, this is a great album that has gotten a lot of play over the years from me.

Poison Clan's "2 Low life Muthas" has long been a favorite "ig'nant" album of mine as well as a favorite bass themed album. They came along the lines of 2 Live Crew, which is obvious by the "Baby 2 Live Crew" moniker the album was blessed with on the cover. Debanior and JT Money were a cross between good ole fashion gangsta rap and the Miami Bass sound. The album was produced by 2 Live Crew's Mr. Mixx, and contains a lot of familiar breaks and sounds, but it was perfect for 16 year old high school kids back in the day such as myself. Classic album in the WYDU frame of mind.

The lead track, "2 Low Life Mutha F----s" is as dirty and hard hitting as they come. As I said, the 2 Live influence is all over the album, as they curse out bitches, punks and anyone frontin' on them over a hard as hell drum track. The only "safe" track, "Dance All Nite" is probably the most traditional when it comes to the Miami Bass genre. It's all there for a club banger. The rest of the album is pure ignorance, all over that Miami flavor that was mad popular in those days.

Poison Clan - 2 Low Life Muthas (Effect/Luke Records, 1990)

01		Low Life Mutha Fuckas (4:32)
02		Spoiled Rotten (4:40)
03		Jeri Curl (4:19)
04		The Bitch That I Hate (4:34)
05		Dance All Nite (4:07)
06		Poison Freestyle (5:16)
		Featuring - Brother Marquis , Tony M.F. Rock*
07		Flaugin' (4:39)
08		Bad Influence (4:12)
09		You Gets Nothin' (4:49)
10		The Neighborhood Haps (2:51)
11		Juveniles (7:02)

2. DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness - Ain't No Doubt About It

I going through the blog looking to see if I had written anything about this album before, and surprisingly enough I didn't see anything. If I haven't, that's a shame, because when it comes to the bass genre, DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness' "Ain't No Doubt About It" is a great album for many different reasons. First of all, it's got bass, and a lot of it. This is probably the first "true" Miami bass album on the list, simply because this album will blow up any car system not properly installed. It can rattle dishes in a house from a mile away. Tracks like "Do You Like Bass" and "Feel The Bass III" concentrates on that ultra low bass that will make you pee yourself if not careful.

Also for a bass album, it was wide on variety and MC Madness, who will never be confused for Rakim, could hold his own on the mic. Tracks like "Dynamic Duo" contained the best of both worlds, adrenaline producing music and bone jarring bass. It got your blood pumping and I probably would consider it one of my bass influenced jams of all time. Magic Mike had a string of albums that went gold, with very little airplay and no videos from what I remember. He did that with a cult following and making quality bass joints, and this is the pennacle of it all.

DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness - Ain't No Doubt About It (Cheetah Records, 1991)

01		Speedy And Poncho
02		Sgt. Fester
03		Ain't No Doubt About It
04		Dynamic Duo
05		Do You Like Bass?
06		Class Is In Session
07		Slow Draggin
08		Exile Via Freestyle
09		Cellular Phone #1
10		Madness To The Brink Of Insanity
11		Just Cruisin
12		Suckers Frontin
13		I'm Gonna Make It Real Funky For You
14		Orlando's In The House
15		Dance All Night
16		The E And The Sea-Gull
17		Give 'Em An Example How A DJ Works
18		Abracadabra
19		Feel The Bass. III
20		Shake Your Booty Baby
21		The Boo-Boo Of Rough J. Rough
22		Murder In The 1st Degree
23		Cellular Phone #2

The holy grail of all bass albums, MC ADE's How Much Can You Take. It is my favorite of the genre. Hard hitting bass, possibly the hardest I've ever ran across (I never listened to those car audio joints, so those might have more) that would just roll so hard, but would be so clear. Maybe it was the way I had my system set up or something, but this was the CD I'd use to test out any car stereo. "Hit Harder" was my shit, but "Control", "How Much Can You Take", and "Da' Train" all had crazy crazy bass. Some of the other tracks were traditional hip hop tracks, but still had that kick behind them.

I remember my best friend's cousin was visiting from Vegas and he played this for us. I fell in love with it. It was something that we couldn't find in my little ho-dunk town at the time, so I think I ended up trading him a 12 pack of beer (as seniors in high school, getting beer was a bit of a chore) for the CD itself. Somehow over the years I lost it, but it was pretty beat up anyway. I finally got the hook up from my man Tommy B over at Miscreant Productions. This is an ebay and amazon treasure with people paying around hundred bucks and more for the CD and wax versions.

MC A.D.E. - How Much Can You Take (4-Sight Records, 1989)

01 Go A.D.E
02 How Much Can You Take
03 To The Fan's
04 Sex, Crime, Drugs
05 Hit Harder
06 Da 'Train
07 A.D.E. Got It Going On
08 Lyric Licking
09 Money Hounding Ho's
10 Physician
11 It's Crazy
12 Control

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WTR Meets WYDU Presents: I Love The 90's Year Two: 1992 The J-Zone Edition

We have a special guest in the house today, Captain Backslap aka J-Zone. He will be dropping knowledge on some of his favorite underrated, unheralded, unknown albums from the year 1992. The great thing about Zone is that he still loves the music and can talk classics and rare shit just as much as any nerdy blogger (I'm including myself in that context, so save the hate mail). If you've ever read one of his interviews where he gets into the oldies but goodies, then you know what I'm talking about. It's a pleasure to have Zone drop the science.

UNHERALDED RAP OF 1992
By J-Zone

1992 was an important year for rap. It was similar to 1988-90, in that the amount of unanimously recognized classic rap albums eclipsed albums that were decent, good and even great. Those decent, good and even great albums that were forgotten began to hold more relevance as the quality of music began to decline over the next decade…as a good number of people damn near ran outta music to check for and literally went back to rediscover. Some haven’t aged well at all, some have, but even some of the ones that didn’t still have a campy appeal that makes their dated nature enjoyable.

In 1993, a lot of East Coast acts tried to make a living on Pete Rock’s style beat-wise and went for the Timbs, Hoodies and Blunts approach lyrically (with a twist of Dax Efx) after being on some opposite shit years prior. On the West Coast and in between, everybody bought a copy of The Chronic, a lead synth, a pair of Dickies and tried their best to re-live the “Let Me Ride” video (see the HBO movie Bangin In Little Rock for reference). I must admit, I have a weakness for both styles even as they went trite. I loved the intro for Eazy-E’s 187-Um It’s On EP more than just about anything in rap history and the Pete Rock-lite beats20on Pudgee’s Give ‘Em The Finger album I still rock today. But let’s be real. For the most part, there were 2 or 3 styles of rap nationwide after that, so 1992 is a very pivotal year. Not to mention, that was the last year that major label rap albums had a worry free sample approach (or at least they only had to clear the big time loops), so after that, things got a little less colorful (if that style of beats float your boat). When The Pharcyde dropped their debut album at the end of 1992 and the 50 page long list of cleared samples even included drums…that was a big turn. So enough rhetoric, here’s a few 1992 gems that got buried under Whut? The Album, Business Never Personal, Daily Operation and Mecca & The Soul Brother…and even get ignored with the resurgence of niche collectables like School Of Hard Knocks and Put Ya Boots On.

JCD & THE DAWG LB: A DAY IN THE LIFE (Profile, 1992)

Long before Nelly put Cardinal town on the map, JCD & The Dawg LB. and their homie Sylk Smoov repped St. Louis in 1992. Both artists influenced me in a big way and were underrated, but at least Sylk had a small buzz with his two singles, “Klientele” and “Bitch Witta Good Rap”. JCD’s album dropped on Profile Records in ‘92, and although I remember seeing it back then, I didn’t buy it til years later so I don’t remember what month. It got zero buzz. My old A&R at Fat Beats Records used to work at Profile back in the day, and he told me the group mailed in DAT Tapes and came to the office maybe once, so they were always somewhat of a mystery.

Produced by Total Trak Productions (the same dudes that did Sylk Smoov, AMG and Mad Flava), the beats are thick, pimped out, extremely funky and sample heavy (some of the loops I still can‘t identify). The skits are hilarious (see “Fish House” and “TLO Sings The Hits”), as is most of the subject matter, and MC JCD is beyond decent. He’s actually pretty dope, and 17 years later, he still doesn’t sound dated. “St. Louis Niggas” sounds like it belongs on one of Ice Cube’s early albums, and that’s a compliment. “Big Bitch” is hilarious, and all 3 people that listen to my music will be able to tell that I listened to it a few thousand times. Besides, it’s the only song ever to reference Mabel King (the mom from the TV show, What’s Happening?!?!). “Bon Apetit” was ground-breaking, in that it may have been one of the first rap songs to brag about eating pussy (besides AMG’s “Lick Em Low Lover” and Pooh-Man‘s “Eatin’ Pussy“) in a time when that was a no-no. “Over Pussy”, “Kibbles N Bits” and “Tell Ya Bout A Bitch” are self-explanatory hot ones, with “Over Pussy” boasting one of the Top 10 uses of “Nautilus” ever. The title cut sounds like a polished version of one of Rap-A-Lot’s more pimped out beats and “Boot Nat” is one of those funky minute-long stories that my 3 fans will again recognize as a definite J-Zone influence.

There’s really no filler, and I think a combination of being from St. Louis (which contributed to a mix of East and West coast styles), Profile Records not marketing the group correctly and timing all hampered it’s buzz. Never searched for it online, so I’m not sure how rare or expensive it is. Whatever you pay for it, whether 50 cents or 50 dollars, it’s worth every penny.


COOLY LIVE: LIVE WIRE (RCA, 1992)

Oh boy. Just one look at the cover will cause you to write it off as a Club MTV dance record. But those in the know should have learned from Greyson & Jasun, everybody dressed a little GQ in the early 90’s. OK, so there are some club friendly cuts for the girls, but ironically, those are produced by none other than Marley Marl. However, the remaining album cuts are very funky and Cooly proved to be a well rounded MC with a creative choice in subject matter. The lead single, “Shake Her”, gives you the best of both worlds, as it’s cool for a party, but the cleverly used Manhattan Transfer sample and Cooly’s rhymes about an overzealous girl work well for hip-hop purists. “That’s Wh at I Like (No Cream In My Coffee)”, the album’s best cut, features a dope concept about interracial dating from Cooly, with a Leaders Of The New School-esque collage of constantly changing samples on the production side (again, pre-stringent sample law). This song may be the only time in rap history when two unlikely foods are paired in rhyme…

“I don’t know that much about matzo/
I don’t know that much about pasta/
But what I do know as the drummer keeps drummin’/
what I need in my life is a Black woman…
Not sayin what you doin is wrong, but it’s not for me, so I just move on.”

“All Possibilities”, “Player” and “Freestyle” hold their own as well on both the rhyme and music sides, making it a decent album, albeit not a true must have. Nonetheless, you probably slept it for a number of reasons (the cover being the main one) and if you have some extra doe and it’s cheap, it’s a good add to the collection and worth a listen.


POISON CLAN: POISONOUS MENTALITY (Effect Records, 1991)

Ah, Poison Clan MC JT Money aka The Rakim Of The South. JT and Ra are apples and oranges, but many people called him that because despite his ability to booty shake and bitch bash with the best in Miami, he was also a great lyricist and writer (along with Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew). On the second Poison Clan album, his partner Debonaire had gone back to NYC to pursue a more NY friendly style with the group Home Team, leaving JT solo on this one. All the classic booty shake is there (“Shake What Ya Mama Gave Ya”), but JT shows off his prowess with battle rap (“Rough Nigga Getting Busy”), social commentary (“Fugitive”) and storytelling (“Action”). But JT Money wouldn’t be himself without his classic humorous misogyny and it’s here in droves. “All They Good For”, “I Hate Ho’s” and “Somethin’ For You Raggedy Ho’s” all feature JT at his bitch-baiting best. “Ho Stories” combines strong story-telling, raunchiness and humor for great effect.

“Big bitch was a freak/
she grabbed me close and started lickin out my butt cheeks/
then I got into it/
I said please, don’t squeeze my ass when you do it/
she must not have liked the taste/
cause she stopped eating ass when I farted in her face”.

Hearing that as a 15 year old when I got the CD for Christmas from my pops, I couldn’t wait to quote that to my boys in school when we went back in January. Add in a verse about fuckin a girl with one leg and a skit in which JT shoots a kid 6 times for respecting women…and you have an enjoyable 60 minutes. The beats are nothing groundbreaking, consisting of mostly common loops and programmed drums, but they do the job. If you’re female or have no sense of humor, I’d pass on this one. But if you can take music lightly and get a kick outta gleeful ignorance done with skill, pick it up.

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Bass Week: Trav's Five Favorite Bass Albums

I'm a list junkie, always have been. It's one of the reasons I love the end of year so damn much. I can write up all sorts of crazy ass lists to cover the years music. It's the reason I've already started on making lists for the grandiose year end post I have coming up in the next few weeks. I look for any chance I have to come up with some hair-brained list. And I found one for this week. My top five favorite bass albums.

I'm no where near a bass "expert" by any stretch of the mind. I listened to it from '88 until about '91, then I got swept up in the new have of NYC material coming out during that time. None the less, I did have my favorite bass and bass related albums. It'd be easy to say any 2 Live Crew album (which were all good in those early years), but I seemed to gravitate to some of the more obscure things, which I have the habit of doing. So, without further rambling, I present WYDU's Top Five Favorite Bass Albums....

5 (TIE). MC Shy D - Commin' Correct in '88 http://rapidshare.com/files/172630816/MC_Shy_D_-_Comin__Correct_In_88.rar

I really can't remember who or what got me originally into MC Shy D. I want to say it was like a lot of cats in those days did it. Anytime I bought a new tape, I would pull out the liner notes and read the "Thanks To..." from whatever artist. This would usually list a bunch of other rap groups and artists. I can remember reading MC Shy D's name being mentioned in those quite often. Or it could have been for the fact he was signed to Luke Skyywalker Records for his first couple efforts and I picked up one of the tapes strictly based on that. Whatever the case, at one time, my next door neighbor neighbor and I had all of MC Shy D's albums. Shy D was out of Atlanta, which surprisingly had a few groups dropping material in the late 80's, such as Shy D and Success N Effect (another favorite Bass flavored album, at least their debut effort).

This particular album, my buddy bought and I ripped it off of him (another example of kids always pirating music). I remember I wore the tape out, but of course it was on one of those super cheap tape brands as well. While his first album, Got To Be Tough, and his third album, Don't Sweat Me, are both very good, it was Shy D's sophomore album, Commin' Correct in '88 that was my personal favorite. From the first track, "I Am Rough", with it's stripped down drum track with a nice funk guitar sample and 808 kick drum, it sounds like it might be a traditional 80's hip hop album. Lyrically, Shy D always reminded me of a southern Steady B, which is probably why I liked his material. "Just My Caddy" tackles the favorite car of most Miami Bass artists, the Cadillac. "I Don't Want To Treat You Wrong" jumped on the bandwagon of every rapper had to have a love song on his shit. This was Shy D's attempt, but what makes the track so important is that it's one of the first times I heard the Isley Brother's "In Between The Sheets" sample used. Biggie and numerous other cats made the sample famous over the years, but Shy D beat them to it. My two personal favorite songs from the album, "Shake It" and "I Don't Play" liberally use electric guitar riffs, ala Beasties and Run DMC, but I loved that shit. I guess it was the white boy in me. All together though, this is a great album that has gotten a lot of play over the years from me.

Poison Clan's "2 Low life Muthas" has long been a favorite "ig'nant" album of mine as well as a favorite bass themed album. They came along the lines of 2 Live Crew, which is obvious by the "Baby 2 Live Crew" moniker the album was blessed with on the cover. Debanior and JT Money were a cross between good ole fashion gangsta rap and the Miami Bass sound. The album was produced by 2 Live Crew's Mr. Mixx, and contains a lot of familiar breaks and sounds, but it was perfect for 16 year old high school kids back in the day such as myself. Classic album in the WYDU frame of mind.

The lead track, "2 Low Life Mutha F----s" is as dirty and hard hitting as they come. As I said, the 2 Live influence is all over the album, as they curse out bitches, punks and anyone frontin' on them over a hard as hell drum track. The only "safe" track, "Dance All Nite" is probably the most traditional when it comes to the Miami Bass genre. It's all there for a club banger. The rest of the album is pure ignorance, all over that Miami flavor that was mad popular in those days.

Poison Clan - 2 Low Life Muthas (Effect/Luke Records, 1990)

01		Low Life Mutha Fuckas (4:32)
02		Spoiled Rotten (4:40)
03		Jeri Curl (4:19)
04		The Bitch That I Hate (4:34)
05		Dance All Nite (4:07)
06		Poison Freestyle (5:16)
		Featuring - Brother Marquis , Tony M.F. Rock*
07		Flaugin' (4:39)
08		Bad Influence (4:12)
09		You Gets Nothin' (4:49)
10		The Neighborhood Haps (2:51)
11		Juveniles (7:02)

2. DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness - Ain't No Doubt About It

I going through the blog looking to see if I had written anything about this album before, and surprisingly enough I didn't see anything. If I haven't, that's a shame, because when it comes to the bass genre, DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness' "Ain't No Doubt About It" is a great album for many different reasons. First of all, it's got bass, and a lot of it. This is probably the first "true" Miami bass album on the list, simply because this album will blow up any car system not properly installed. It can rattle dishes in a house from a mile away. Tracks like "Do You Like Bass" and "Feel The Bass III" concentrates on that ultra low bass that will make you pee yourself if not careful.

Also for a bass album, it was wide on variety and MC Madness, who will never be confused for Rakim, could hold his own on the mic. Tracks like "Dynamic Duo" contained the best of both worlds, adrenaline producing music and bone jarring bass. It got your blood pumping and I probably would consider it one of my bass influenced jams of all time. Magic Mike had a string of albums that went gold, with very little airplay and no videos from what I remember. He did that with a cult following and making quality bass joints, and this is the pennacle of it all.

DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness - Ain't No Doubt About It (Cheetah Records, 1991)

01		Speedy And Poncho
02		Sgt. Fester
03		Ain't No Doubt About It
04		Dynamic Duo
05		Do You Like Bass?
06		Class Is In Session
07		Slow Draggin
08		Exile Via Freestyle
09		Cellular Phone #1
10		Madness To The Brink Of Insanity
11		Just Cruisin
12		Suckers Frontin
13		I'm Gonna Make It Real Funky For You
14		Orlando's In The House
15		Dance All Night
16		The E And The Sea-Gull
17		Give 'Em An Example How A DJ Works
18		Abracadabra
19		Feel The Bass. III
20		Shake Your Booty Baby
21		The Boo-Boo Of Rough J. Rough
22		Murder In The 1st Degree
23		Cellular Phone #2

The holy grail of all bass albums, MC ADE's How Much Can You Take. It is my favorite of the genre. Hard hitting bass, possibly the hardest I've ever ran across (I never listened to those car audio joints, so those might have more) that would just roll so hard, but would be so clear. Maybe it was the way I had my system set up or something, but this was the CD I'd use to test out any car stereo. "Hit Harder" was my shit, but "Control", "How Much Can You Take", and "Da' Train" all had crazy crazy bass. Some of the other tracks were traditional hip hop tracks, but still had that kick behind them.

I remember my best friends cousin was visiting from Vegas and he played this for us. I fell in love with it. It was something that we couldn't find in my little ho-dunk town at the time, so I think I ended up trading him a 12 pack of beer (as seniors in high school, getting beer was a bit of a chore) for the CD itself. Somehow over the years I lost it, but it was pretty beat up anyway. I finally got the hook up from my man Tommy B over at Miscreant Productions. This is an ebay and amazon treasure with people paying around hundred bucks and more for the CD and wax versions.

MC A.D.E. - How Much Can You Take (4-Sight Records, 1989)

01 Go A.D.E
02 How Much Can You Take
03 To The Fan's
04 Sex, Crime, Drugs
05 Hit Harder
06 Da 'Train
07 A.D.E. Got It Going On
08 Lyric Licking
09 Money Hounding Ho's
10 Physician
11 It's Crazy
12 Control

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Used CD Shopping Trip Part Two (June 7th & 8th): The Daughter On the Road in Salt Lake City

We jump back into part two of my used CD shopping trip that took place June 7th & 8th in the glorious and wondrous city of Salt Lake City (that's only slight bullshit). After my trip to the F.Y.E. on Redwood Rd, I struck out at the next few places. As I mentioned last week, I hadn't been around Salt Lake much after moving, only a few times over the past nine years. When I lived there in the late 90's, I had my places that I would hit up, but a lot can change in nine years, as I'd soon find out. The F.Y.E. and Graywhale stores that I hit up first were on the west side of the city. The next few stores that I remembered and that were on my list were on the east side of the city, mainly around Highland and 21st South and 9th East area. On my way over I started looking on my list and realized that I remembered Orion Records, it was a cool little shop in the Highlands shops, a little strip store type place that had quirky little stores in them. After getting lost, I eventually found where I was looking for. One problem though, the strip of stores it was located was no longer standing. It was no longer there. In the same area, just a couple blocks over was The Record Collector. It was a nice day, so I went for a stroll. The Record Collector is nothing but vinyl, which is great, but they also had a very limited hip hip selection. It's basically this little narrow room with rows of vinyl in the middle of them. I'm not much on the vinyl tip, especially if it's not to do with hip hop, so after browsing a bit, I figured I'd the professional crate diggers have at it and jumped back in the car to find one of my favorite stores in Denver, Second Spin.

When I first moved to Denver, I lived pretty much right downtown. Of course, I looked in the phone book for CD/Record stores the first week I was living there, but for the first couple months I was there, I basically ended up going to three stores on the norm, a Sam Goody's in the Temple Square mall (I can't STAND Sam Goody's these days and you couldn't drag me into one of them, over priced fuckers), a Blockbuster store that also had a music section, which would be the store that I bought Redman's Muddy Waters. The third place was right across the street from the Blockbuster, which was Second Spin. The Second Spin in Denver and I had a wonderful relationship while I lived there and the Second Spin in Salt Lake wasn't quite on the same level as the one in Denver, but it still treated me right back in the day. I roll up to the parking lot in the strip mall it was in and the building was still standing.....BUT, the store was empty. No more Second Spin. Going really well. I noticed that right across the street was the Blockbuster, but it also had an F.Y.E. right next to it. "Might as well", I thought to myself and proceed to go across the street.


FYE 21st South & 7th East

With the luck I had in the Redwood store, I figured I might as well check this one out. Right off the bat, it's noticeably smaller than the "super" store that I had been to earlier. The hip hop section is ALOT smaller than what I had seen at the other store. But it was cleaner, more organized, and the racks didn't kill your back while you went through the disks. But the selection was MUCH smaller in terms of used CDs. As I started thumbing through the stock, I had a couple important phone calls, so I kept having to go out and come back in (it was loud in the store) so my concentration and place lost numerous times. I only walked out with these two releases, and one of them was obviously a stretch.

First Star - My Grip is Like a Cobra (Ichiban/Wrap, 1991)

1. Explode
2. All I Want To Do
3. Ladies Night Out
4. Diss Is For The Suckas (Radio Version)
5. The Duce
6. My Grip Is Like A Cobra
7. Stop Jockin'
8. It's On You
9. Diss Is For The Suckas
10. Why You Want To Talk About Me
11. Calling Shouts

This album contains a track entitled "Diss Is For The Suckas", I guess that was aimed at anyone that bought this damn album. I didn't know anything about First Star, but two things made me buy it. One, it was on Ichiban/Wrap, and they usually had at least some entertaining releases. Second, I can't ever recall seeing this. It looked like something I'd run across on Bust The Facts, yet hadn't. Listening to this later, I didn't realize it was a solo female act. The cover makes it look like a group. I probably wouldn't have bought it if I would have known that (I've never been a big fan of early female MC's except MC Lyte and Monie Love, sue me). This album is kind of a cross between house, R&B, and some attempt at hardcore for good measure. For $4.99, since I've never seen it, I guess it's alright, but I doubt I'll be playing this again anytime in the near future.

Nine - Whutcha Want (Maxi Single) (Profile, 1995)

1. Whutcha Want? (Album Version)
2. Whutcha Want? (Instrumental)
3. Red Rum
4. Me, Myself And My Microphone (Demo Mix)
5. Whutcha Want? (Street Remix)
6. Whutcha Want? (Radio Remix)

You know when you haven't found anything for awhile when you are digging through a row of CD's or vinyl? You start flipping through them rather fast then you skip over something that catches your eye and for a brief second, you think you've found something and it's not what you think it is? That's what happened with this maxi single. I've been looking long and hard for either of the Nine releases and for a brief second thought this was one of those. At least until my brain registered what it really was. None the less, this single is one of my favorites, and while I already have this on mp3, it's always better to have the physical copy. For $3.99, what the hell, right?

CD Exchange

After hitting up the FYE and not finding anything all that good, I decided to head up on the hill to find the University Graywhale. This was the store that I used to go over to in between classes, if for nothing else to kill some time. It's located right across the street from University of Utah. I found it fine, but parking was a bitch around the store, which was strictly street parking. After going around the block three or four times, and almost getting hit by a truck, I said "Fuck it" and drove back down the hill and decided to check out the three stores located on State Street. I drove past Uprok Records, but again, parking was a problem, I was running short on time and patience, so I drove by it. After talking to one of the readers who is from SLC, I guess I should have stopped as he had good reviews of the place. Oh well, maybe next time. I drove on to The CD Exchange, which was up the street a little ways. I drove by it on the first past, that's how insignificant this place looks from the outside. I pull up right in front of the store on the street. If you have never been to Salt Lake City, State Street is the street every major city has. The one that has five pawn shops on every block, if you need some crack, you can probably find it on this street. A cheap hooker? You can also find one on State Street.

Walking into the store I wanted to immediately turn around and walk right back out. It just didn't look like a place that I would find any rare hip hop CD's. There were empty boxes, empty CD jewel cases, and DVDs stacked everywhere. There was a narrow bath around the CDs in the middle of the room (more like a tunnel) as well as some up against the wall. A guy was behind the counter and he looked up to say "hello", then went back to examining DVDs. I walked around in this cluttered store, not seeing any hip hop. I was on my way out the door when I looked over at one of the racks up against the wall. Jackpot. He didn't have the CDs in cases, but simply had the front booklet in a plastic cover. Now remember, this is a shady area, so I understand why he did this, and the good thing, there were LOTS of this plastic covers. Once again, it was on!

Little side note, while I was immersed in my CD digging, a dude came in with a friend, and his girl friend. The guy had a bunch of DVDs he was trying to sell to the owner. The two went back and forth before the guy behind the counter threatened to kick him out. You can tell this dude had to deal with this kind of thing often. The guy selling the DVDs smell liked cheap liquor and stale cigarettes. He would finally agree to the twenty bucks the dude was offering for the DVDs. The chick was off to my right side, just kind of staring at me. It was obvious she was on something, I would guess meth. She was your typical white trash tweaker. She was twitching and very nervous. Immediately I started to get out of my CD zone and started paying attention to my surroundings, something that I think you have to do in areas like this. I started trying to locate the third dude, who looked like he was Mexican and I saw him standing off to my left. He was eyeballing me as well. I'm starting feeling a little uneasy, when dude starts to approach me. I'm not really sure what to do, so I just kind of straighten up and face him. "Hey pal, hey pal, do you need a VCR?" I kind of just looked at him, "You need a VCR man? I got some good ones!" "Nah man, I don't need a VCR", as I kind of stare at him. "Twenty bucks man, this is a good one", about that time the guy behind the counter tells him to go outside because he is disrupting his customers. It was just kind of an odd exchange with everyone involved....not sure why I told that story, it sounded cooler when I went over it in my head after it happened....hahaha.

KMC Kru - You Be The Judge (Curb Records, 1992)

1. Alphabet Rhyme
2. Nothin' But a Party
3. You Be the Judge
4. It'll Make You Dance
5. Back In the Day
6. Momma Had a Gangsta
7. No Money
8. Just Can't Live Without You
9. Life Is Up and Down
10. Will You Be There for Me
11. Talk Dirty To Me
12. The Butcher Goes To Basstown
13. The Devil Came Up To Michigan

When I walked out with this, I originally thought this was their 1990 release, but come to find out, I was confused. I actually haven't heard this one as of yet. I dug their sophomore release from 1990 (the one I thought this was) called "Gettin' Smooth With It", if for nothing else than the "Devil Came Up To Michigan" track. It was a remake of the Charlie Daniels "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", fiddle classic (don't ask me how I know about it, I just do). It had been a long while since I hadn't seen this CD, at least the mid 90's, so I grabbed it since it was only $2.99. I was talking to the guy when I was paying for my stash and he said he had this CD for a "a long ass time".

Daddy-O - You Can Be A Daddy, But Never Daddy-O (Island Records, 1993)

1. Intro Joint

2. Swung It, Blunted, Brung It

3. Brooklyn Bounce

4. Dat Vs DJ

5. Kid Capri

6. Come for Mine

7. Flowin in File

8. How to Beat a Bootleg/God Don't Like Ugly

9. Ihatefonies (The Truck Drivers Song)

10. You Can Be a Daddy, But Never Daddy-O - Daddy O, YZ

11. Fanfare

12. Buc Buc Buk

13. East Coast Funk

14. Bass Knotts (Sunbathing on the Roof)

15. Nobody Move

16. Funky Worm Outro Joint - Daddy O, Funky Worm

I've always viewed this CD as a disappointment. It's not really that good, but I've been on the look out for it for awhile now. It was fairly cheap, costing $3.99

Powerule - Volume 1 (Interscope, 1991)

1		Interview
2		Back
3		Ruff Neck Freestyle
4		5 Minutes 2 Showtime
5		Pass The Vibes
6		Interview
7		Premises
8		Rub Of The Wax
		Rap [Featuring] - Leaders Of The New School
9		When The Rhythm Calls
10		Que Pasa? (What's Going On)
11		Young Stars From Nowhere
		Featuring - Johnny Jay Rap [Featuring] - Kurious Jorge* , Rebel (7)
12		Interview
13		That's The Way It Is
14		Smooth
15		Gots Ta Get This
		Co-producer - Large Professor Rap [Featuring] - Large Professor
16		Interview
17		Urbs Inda Suburbs
18		Whassup?

This Powerule joint was one of my crowing jewels of the trip. I've been looking for this album since it dropped back in 1991. Never could find the damn thing. I remember even asking the local record store to order it for me and they could never get it for me. Finally I tracked it down. It's finds like this that get me excited looking for new CDs. The album is a good one and probably underrated. "Smooth" was the jam played on "Yo! MTV Raps" back in the day and the joint that got me searching for past seventeen years. It wasn't cheap, costing me $9.99. The guy that owned the place did his homework, the only bad part about the place. There were some solo Ren CDs going for $20 bucks, a Mellow Man Ace debut album for $20, a Kid Sensation solo debut going for $20 and a few others around the price of new CDs, which I just didn't want to pay for on this trip. I budgeted out $150 bucks, and I knew by the time I left the store, I was going to be right around that limit.

YZ - The Ghetto's Been Good To Me (Livin' Large Records, 1993)

1. Second to Nobody

2. Return Remix

3. Barber Shop

4. Drink at the Bar

5. (So Far) The Ghetto's Been Good to Me

6. It's Got to Stop

7. Newborn

8. Life Under Pressure

9. Acid Rain

10. Dead Love [Live]

11. Return of the Holy One - Terminata, YZ

Yes, this was THE crowning jewel of this trip. I've long wanted YZ's "The Ghetto's Been Good To Me" as well, with not much luck. Amazon has two sellers selling copies for no cheaper than $46 bucks. I bought mine for $7.99, so yeah, I got a deal. I've loved this album since first hearing it back in 1993 at the local Record Exchange in my hometown, but by the time I went back to by the CD, they had sold it and I never saw it again. The mp3's have kept me satisfied for the past few years. This was the last CD I found, you know, "Y's" are toward the end and when I found, I knew it was worth more than he was asking, but I would have bought it if it was only selling for a penny on amazon. When I was up waiting for him to pull the actual disk from behind the counter, he even mentioned that I was getting a deal on this album, he just wasn't sure how much. He then mentioned he'd rather see a collector such as myself get than "one of those greedy record buyers". I went home and saw the prices it was going for and said "daaayum". This made the whole trip.

Other Purchases

Jesse Jaymes - Thirty Footer In Your Face (Delicious Vinyl, 1991) $3.99

Delicious Vinyls answer to Vanilla Ice. It sucks pretty bad, but I never have really seen it around much. I was trying to get the most for my $50 I had to spend here and chalk it up to nostalgia being a bitch once again.

Illegal - The Untold Truth (Rowdy Records, 1993) $6.99

I've always liked this album, which I had before it got jacked out of my SUV one time. I used to see this all the time in Denver at the Cheap-O Discs that I used to hit up all the time, but haven't been able to find it since then and was bound and determined not to let it pass me up this time.

Das EFX - Hold It Down (East/West, 1995) $5.99

This is probably my favorite Das album, although I'd agree the debut album is a better album. There was just a lot more flavor and variety and this album. I had this at one time as well, until the infamous "loan out" to a friend resulted in me never seeing it again.

This was a good example of not judging a book by its cover. This store was easily the best one I went to in Salt Lake and one of the best ones I've ever been in to. I left plenty of rare things there, either because he wanted more than I wanted to spend or the simple fact I already owned it. The owner was a cool dude once we started talking while he was getting my CDs out for me. We talked about the business and my collecting. He even ended up giving me a sampler of Mark Ronson stuff, which I haven't listened to yet, but it was a nice gesture. I'd highly recommend this store to anyone going through Salt Lake, just leave the good stuff for me...haha.

June 8th, Back at FYE on Redwood Rd.

I had spent a lot of time in the CD Exchange the day before and was supposed to meet up with a friend at 5:30, I didn't get out of there until 5:30, then had to run to the other side of town. My day of shopping was done, but I was hoping to hit up a store or two before I left early Sunday afternoon. That didn't quite happen as I had a little too much fun Saturday night and slept in until 11 in the morning. I got my shit together and packed up my car and got ready to meet a friend for lunch at noon. I called her at noon to no answer, so while I was waiting, I figured I'd go back to FYE on Redwood. There were a couple things that I passed over that I wanted to grab, mainly an Asamov CD that you don't see around since they stopped printing them (sorry Therapy) and then my man CH Commish from the world famous Slushy Gutter Crew and my former Denver brethren had asked me while I lived in Denver to keep an eye out for Organized Konfusion's "Stress: The Extinction Agenda". I had for awhile, but never saw it much. Then I remember after seeing it, that CH wanted a copy of it. So I went back and grabbed those two copies, and figured I might as well find one more so I can get a freebie.

Poison Clan - Rufftown Behavior (Luke Records, 1993) $6.99

01		Intro (2:11)
02		Afraid Of The Flavor (4:15)
03		Come A Surprise (0:19)
04		Put Shit Pass No Ho (4:09)
05		Some More Shit (3:28)
06		Work For Free (0:23)
07		Peepin (4:09)
08		Pause For The Cause (0:58)
09		Game Recognize Game (4:30)
10		City Boy (3:21)
11		Burne One (0:08)
12		Check Out The Ave. Pt. I (3:15)
13		Let's Get Serious (2:20)
14		Check Out The Ave. Pt. II (3:00)
15		Setting Up (0:30)
16		Sugarhill Style (4:23)
17		True Player Speaks (0:50)
18		Word From A Player (5:02)
19		Ho Stories Pt. II (3:03)
20		Madball Back (0:23)
21		Listen (5:19)
22		M.C. Sundance (1:35)
23		Ruff Town Behavior (4:03)
24		Comin Strap (1:14)
25		Goin' All Out (4:16)

After their second album, "Poisonous Mentality", I stopped paying attention or caring what Poison Clan released. The magic that was on the first album was gone when Debonaire left. The second album didn't posses the humor the debut album did, but it was still a decent effort. I've listened to this album since then and it's alright, but it was basically a fill in.

Other Purchases

Asamov - And Now.... (6Hole Records, 2005) $7.99

This one got shutdown after the whole Asamov/Issac Asamov ordeal that resulted them chaging their name to the AB's. I found out about the crew right about the time the album was pulled from the shelves, so I never did pick it up. It's a good album that I've always wanted a copy of, I was glad to find it.

Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda (Hollywood Basic, 1994) $5.99

I've always considered Stress my favorite OK release (potential This or That?) and I've had it for awhile. As I mentioned, CH Commish has asked me to look for this for him and I finally ran across it.

Born Jamericans - Kids From Foreign (Delicious Vinyl, 1994) Free (4th CD)

Eh, it was free...haha

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Summary only...

Used CD Shopping Trip Part One (June 7th): The Daughter On the Road in Salt Lake City

I don't hide what I think of Salt Lake City. I despise the place, plain and simple. It's dirty, there is a strong religious influence, and it's one that I don't necessarily agree with or fit in with very well. A large portion of the city is unfriendly and down right rude. Try driving around "Suck Lake", you will quickly see what I mean. I spent four rather miserable years in the city while I went to the University of Utah in the late 90's. Some of the worse years of my life were spent in that god forsaken place. BUT, to be fair, there are also some good things about Salt Lake. The scenery is obviously beautiful. One of my best friends is from the city, we have a blast whenever we get together anymore. We had some hellacious times while I was living there as well, the summer of '97 was probably the funnest summer I've ever had. This past weekend was no different as we closed down my favorite "private club", Port O' Call. My daughter still lives there as well, which was the reason for my visit this past weekend.

And this might be hard to believe, but Salt Lake's hip hop scene is rather decent. Even in the late 90's, they had their own weekly hip hop radio show, the Toss Salad hip hop show that was on two or three hours every Saturday night. It was here that I first heard Frankenstein, Krs' "Hip Vs. Rap" single, Royal Flush's "Iced Down Medallions" and a weird ass remix for Redman's "It's Like That" single that I haven't heard since then. They had a record store that was devoted strictly to hip hop. The "Hip Hop Shop" had vinyl, mixtapes, CD's, tapes, DJ equipment, all the things a hardcore b-boy needs. They get most of the hip hop shows that come around the region. I saw Tha Liks, Digital Underground, Biz Markie, Busta Rhymes, Cypress Hill, De La Soul and the Roots all in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is also home to quite a few used CD stores and record stores. After having some communication problems with my daughter's mother, I spent most of last Saturday driving around the city, hitting up CD spots as I got to deluge in one of my favorite activities in life, used CD shopping.

After rolling out of the rack a wee bit hungover Saturday morning, I headed in the quest for wrapping paper for my daughter's birthday presents and some used CDs. I haven't lived in Salt Lake since '99, and since then, I haven't really had the time or the money to do much diggin' when I am in town. While some of my old haunts are still around, a lot have closed since then. Add in the fact I haven't driven in certain areas of the town for awhile, I had four post-it notes of stores and addresses on them in the car with me just so I would have some kind of clue. My buddy has a new house way out on the western side of the town, almost out by the Kennecott mine. I hopped in my little rice burner car and headed to Redwood road to the store I used to hit up the most while I lived there.

Graywhale CD Exchange

Graywhale CD Exchange is a local chain in Salt Lake and probably the most popular of the CD stores in the surrounding area. I used to live within walking distance of the store on Redwood Rd and 47th and this would be my first store of the day. I bought a lot of CDs while I lived there at that store. They always had a handful of things I would want each time I went there and the prices were decent, but nothing really under five bucks. What would I find there this time? It had been almost three years since I had been in the store and they had totally remodeled it. It looked like some goth like place, with grey metal like decor surrounding the place. But I wasn't there to check out the interior designing. I was there for CD's. As I previously mentioned, this particular store usually had a few things I would want. I can't remember ever walking away emptied handed very often, even when I was checking it out on a weekly basis. There never was extremely rare releases there, at least I can't ever remember finding any "holy grails" at this particular 'whale. This trip would be a lot like the old times. Plenty of things I wouldn't mind having, but nothing extremely rare.

Shinehead - Unity (Elektra, 1988) $5.99

1		Unity (4:15)
2		Chain Gang Rap (4:10)
3		The Truth (4:13)
4		Hello Y'All (4:30)
5		Do It With Ease (4:03)
6		Gimme No Crack (5:05)
7		Raggamuffin (3:54)
8		Know How Fe Chat (4:46)
9		Who The Cap Fits (4:00)
10		Golden Touch (4:09)

This somewhat forgotten 1988 album was something I couldn't stand back in the day. It sounded nothing like Ra, Kane, LL, or any of the hardcore rhymers I was listening to back in those days. Shinehead is what they would call a "Raggamuffin" (also a name of one of his songs) artist, similar to today's dancehall artists, although he probably does more hip hop than a lot of those artists. He mixed a lot of reggae and hip hop together and I just wasn't feeling it in my young age. His video for "Chain Gang" was on Yo! MTV Raps often in those days. Even since then as I my hip hop and musical tastes grew, I still never really checked for Shinehead. I would see this release around often back in the days used, but as time went on, I saw it less and less. So when it had been awhile since I seen it, I figured I'd pick it up for nostalgia purposes. I can't ever recall hearing the whole album. It's not bad at all, if you enjoy the Caribbean influence in your hip hop, you would probably get down with this. Something I didn't know about the album is that the late Jam Master Jay (RIP) and Davy D produced the first three tracks on this album, including the lead and most well known single, "Chain Gang". As far as the $5.99, it was probably a dollar or two more than I would have liked to pay for it, but I figured that since it was one of the cheaper used CDs in the store and it's not like I could come back and get it in a week or so that I should just grab it while I can.

Too Much Trouble - Bringing Hell On Earth (Rap-A-Lot, 1992) $7.99

1		Intro
2		Only The Strong
		Rap [Featuring] - Geto Boys
3		Invasion Of The Purse Snatchers
4		Take The P_ _ _ _
5		Hoe
6		Ghetto M.C.
7		Mother F_ _ _ _ _' Thugs
		Rap [Featuring] - Big Mello
8		Fugitives On The Run
9		Life Of The Gangsters
10		Wanted Dead Or Alive
11		Jealous Niggas Hy Cappen
12		Bad Attitudes
13		Definite Cashflow

I had my "gangster" rap phase fairly early in my life, listening to a lot of it in the early 90's. For some reason though, I shied away from this Too Much Trouble release. Even at an early age, anything that was trying to pawn itself off as "The Baby Geto Boys" just wasn't very original in my book. So I avoided it. Since then, I've gone back and listened to it and while it's not a lost classic by any means, it is rather entertaining, if for nothing else than the H-Town funk production found on it. I hadn't seen this in awhile and went through a phase earlier this year where I was listening to a lot of the Rap-A-Lot releases (you will see why here in the next week or two) and this was one of my favorite ones, so the same rule of "if I see something I like, buy it, because I won't get a second chance". Funny thing was later, my buddy got in my car and started going through my bags of CDs I picked up earlier in the day and he ran across this. He likes the old hip hop, but he just started busting up laughing at the cover. When you do think about it, the whole concept, the group and the cover is rather humorous. I could have picked this up on Amazon for about the same prize or cheaper, but what's the fun in that?

Vell Bakardy - Genuine Liqua Hits (Wild West Recordings/American, 1995) $8.99

1		Intro (1:11)
2		Drink Wit' Me (4:12)
3		Playa Shit (4:40)
4		Drunk Bitches (4:28)
		Featuring - AMG
5		Fantasy (It's Reality) (4:43)
6		Up In The Hood (4:21)
7		Deep Shit (4:32)
8		Forever (4:02)
9		F.A.T.H.A. (3:55)
10		Liqua Ndustry (4:24)
		Featuring - AMG
11		Daddy's Lil Angel (4:19)
12		Typical Day (5:16)
13		Little Kids (Who's The Man With The Master Plan?) (3:38)
14		Life's So Hard (4:02)
15		Came Up (3:52)

I was totally unfamiliar with Vell Bakardy's "Genuine Liqua Hits" until the Cocaine Blunts forum days, which was two-three years ago. Since then, it's been one of those internet discoveries that I've rather enjoyed. Bakardy was out of Kansas City, not your usual place for hip hop flavor, but even in the mid 90's, hip hop was world wide, bitches. The west coast influence is hard to ignore as it sounds like it could have came straight out SoCal in those days. 304 member AMG is even found on a couple tracks, which is what originally drew me to the album. At $8.99, this was rather spendy, but I haven't ever seen it anywhere before, so I figured what the fuck, I liked the album and I wasn't probably going to see it again, at least not in my hometown.

Other Purchases:

Fu-Schnickens - Nervous Breakdown $4.99
Fu-Schnickens - F.U. Don't Take It Personal $4.99

I wasn't a big Fu-Schnick fan back in the day. I had some hip hop tunnel vision in those days, anything definitely than the type of thing I was digging, I didn't check for really. The Fu-Schnicks were definitely on some "otha shit". I started coming around when I heard their "Sneakin' Up On Ya" on the CB4 soundtrack. I then went back and realized that "La Schmoove", "True Fuschnick", and "Ring The Alarm" were all great tracks from their debut album. I still never actually picked up one of their albums. I have even passed over their albums numerous times in the past when I saw them used. Not this time, I figured at $4.99, this was the cheapest I was going to see them both at.

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded $6.99

I originally bought the B-Boy Records 1993 re-release of Criminal Minded, the one with the "Bride Is Over" in the track listing. I had it for quite awhile, but would eventually end up losing it when some tweaked crack head stole a bunch of my shit while I was living in Salt Lake, another reason I hate that place, and if I ever see that sorry tweaker, I'm beating some ass...... Anyway, this is the 2001 Landspeed re-release, which also contains the instrumentals. I couldn't possibly live with myself as a "well-respected" hip hop blogger and NOT have a retail copy of this in my collection. At $6.99, this is worth that and more.

F.Y.E. on Redwood Rd

As I previously mentioned, a lot of my old spots were no longer in business any more. This included a Media Play that was just down from one of my houses I rented for a couple years while I was there. Two years ago when I was back for Christmas, I got in on their closing sale and picked up some fairly decent bargains. At the time, it wasn't disclosed what would be moving in there. When I did a google for used CDs before leaving, this store called F.Y.E. was listed in the same location as the old Media Play was that I used to hit up often while living close by. So after hitting up the Graywhale, I backed tracked by to the F.Y.E. store. F.Y.E. is one of those "all in one" media places that sells books, video games, and music. I personally had never heard of before, which is actually quite funny, because as I was writing this and went to the store's webpage, I learned there is a F.Y.E. only about five miles from where I live currently, go figure. Anyway, I walk toward the back for the used hip hop section and find a nice little section of used hip hop CDs. I quickly learn they are running a promotion: Buy three CDs get the fourth free. As Cube said, "Once again, it's on!" As I start going through each CD one by one, it's obvious that these aren't in exactly the most organized order. Eminem is in with the A's, Atmosphere's are with the T's, basically, shit is a total cluster fuck. To top it off, I'm 6'1 in height and the racks were kind of low, so I was bending over most of the time, which made it extremely uncomfortable. Not a lot of raw stuff to be found here, but some albums I was missing from the collection, so all in all, not a bad spot to hit.

Poison Clan - 2 Low Life Muthas (Effect/Luke Records, 1990) $7.99

01		Low Life Mutha Fuckas (4:32)
02		Spoiled Rotten (4:40)
03		Jeri Curl (4:19)
04		The Bitch That I Hate (4:34)
05		Dance All Nite (4:07)
06		Poison Freestyle (5:16)
		Featuring - Brother Marquis , Tony M.F. Rock*
07		Flaugin' (4:39)
08		Bad Influence (4:12)
09		You Gets Nothin' (4:49)
10		The Neighborhood Haps (2:51)
11		Juveniles (7:02)

First person to call me a hypocrite for something I said earlier in this post gets.....well nothin', but the satisfaction of calling me a hypocrite (which isn't all that hard to do) when I say that Poison Clan's "2 Low life Muthas" has long been a favorite "ig'nant" album of mine (hint: It had to do with Poison Clan's nickname). The CD is something I've long been looking for after owning it on tape since it first dropped back in 1990. This was a cross between good ole fashion gangsta rap and the Miami Bass sound. The album was produced by 2 Live Crew's Mr. Mixx, and contains a lot of familiar breaks and sounds, but it was perfect for 16 year old high school kids back in the day such as myself. The two original members appear on this one, JT Money and Debonair, who was also in Home Team a few years later. Classic album in the WYDU frame of mind. Coming in at $7.99, it's not much more than found on Amazon and the price of this has dropped quite a bit in the last couple years as I think it got the re-release treatment. This appears to be an original release, as far as I can tell.

Brothers Uv Da Blakmarket - Ruff Life (Select, 1992) Free (counted as my fourth CD)

1		10 Below (0:28)
2		To Da Head (3:50)
3		20 Below (0:18)
4		Livin' In Da Bottle (3:50)
5		Not U Again (4:26)
6		I Love Loosey's (4:15)
7		Ruff Neck Style (4:00)
8		Gettin' Money (4:59)
9		We Got This (4:38)
10		30 Below (0:21)
11		Ruff Life (In Da City) (3:56)
12		I Ain't Da One (4:08)
13		Collette Da Pet (4:28)
14		40 Below (0:40)

There is kind of a funny story behind this CD. I like to kind of keep track of what certain CDs are going for used on Amazon and ebay. Not that I sell my shit, but if I see something that is hard to find is going for cheap and it usually costs a shitload, I want to be able to snatch it up. When I first saw Brothers Uv Da Blakmarket's "Ruff Life" on Saturday, I snatched it up with the quickness, like someone was going to come take it from me. It's a decent album, with a single "Livin' In The Bottle" that made some noise back in the day, but I got confused by two things. When I was looking for this album on Amazon a while back, they didn't have any for sale when I entered in the title. They had an entry for it, but none for sale. That usually means, if one does pop up, it's going to be going for a pretty penny. I didn't realize though, the groups name is spelled without a "c" in "Blakmarket". It was just odd though that Amazon did have a listing for the wrong spelling. Then for some reason Saturday when I saw it, I had them confused with the group School of Hard Knocks, which is going for $30 bucks or more on Amazon. I left the store thinking that I cut a fat hog in the ass. It wasn't until I did a little more investigating that I realized my errors and found out the CD can be had on Amazon for a couple of bucks. At least it was free. And it is a good CD, full of your typical east coast early 90's fare, shouted posse choruses, raw beats and rugged lyrics.

Audio Assault Squad - Comin' Up Outta This Bitch (380 Recordings/Ichiban, 1993) $7.99

1. Intro

2. Comin' up Outta This Bitch

3. It's All About the Double A.S.

4. Streets of FTW

5. Ass Like Boom

6. Turn up the Music

7. Pump for More

8. Somethin' for Bassheads

9. Mothafuckas Just Butt

10. 40's Talking

11. Single Parent Child

12. As Long as You Don't Touch Me

13. Just Who's Your Uncle

14. Gangxta Shit

15. Light Anotha Joint

The Audio Assault Squad was one of the many things I discovered on Bust The Facts. Before then, I think I had heard of them, but never did check them out. I can't recall where the crew is from, I want to say L.A. The album is not anything great, some generic west coast gangsta rap from the early 90's. By this time though, I was in a "buying frenzy" and ended up snatching up anything I found remotely interesting. I had actually put this down after I got control of myself, but when I only had seven CDs, I went back and got my eighth one, because it was free. I did end up paying $7.99 for it. Looking back at it now and looking on Amazon, I kind of got ripped, but so be it. I haven't seen it before, so I gotta grab it when you can.

Other Purchases:

Artifacts - That's Them $6.99
Artifacts - Wrong Side of the Tracks $6.99

I know, I know, I should have my hip hop blogger license revoked for not already owning these. Everyone one has them, a group that while they like their music and all, they just never ended up buying their albums. That was The Artifacts for me. I can't deny that both these albums are classic east coast music and I was happy to finally grab some copies of them.

Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown $7.99

If not having the Artifacts on CD didn't warrant my hip hop blogger license being revoked, surely not having Ultra's debut in the collection would, right? In my defense though, I've had it on tape for a long while, since at least '89 or '90, so that should at least get me a "get out of jail" card. What can I say about this album that hasn't been said already? It's a certified classic. I believe this might be an original release as well. It's got a copyright of 1988 and no later ones on the case and the case itself is beat to hell. Not sure, nor does it really matter, but it's kind of cool if its the original release.

Organized Konfusion - Organized Konfusion Free (fourth CD)

Another potentially license revoking omission on my part I suppose. This came out in the days that Trav was not having this kind of thing (creative) and I rejected it. I hated "Fudge Pudge", "Walk Into The Sun" and "....Last Piece of Chicken" with a passion back in those days, all singles that were played on Yo! back in the day. I would go on and get Stress: Extinction Agenda and Equinox both when they first dropped, but I never did go back and buy the debut. I would listen to it since then and realized it was pretty fuckin' good, especially as one of my freebies.

Too Short - Short Dogs In The House $7.99

I swear I do this every fuckin' trip, I end up buying a clean version of some fuckin' album. Yes, it pisses me the fuck off and I fuckin' think I have to make fuckin' up for it. FUCK! And Too Short is not something you want the clean version to. I paid $7.99 for this shit? FUCK! Short Dogs In The House is my second favorite Too Short album after Life Is....To Short. Most of my, no scratch that, ALL my Too Short CDs disappeared back in my house party days. Usually because they always got brought out and played sometime during the party. This one still has the plastic on it, but I have no desire to listen to a clean version of a Too Short album. It's just wrong.

TO BE CONTINUED

That is all for part one of the trip. I still have three more stores to go over, including the best one of the trip, so stay tuned later this week for part two of the trip.........

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